


Spark

by Bay



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Magic, Netteflix Secret Seteth, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), the two having a gentle conversation over their bad relationship with their fathers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28364886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bay/pseuds/Bay
Summary: Felix asks Annette to teach him Reason magic. During one of their lessons, he struggles with it due to worrying over her.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15
Collections: Netteflix Secret Seteth 2020





	Spark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kurakynr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kurakynr/gifts).



> Wrote this for the Secret Seteth gift exchange going on over at Twitter. I went with the prompt "Annette teaching Felix Reason magic" and had a lot of fun with it! Thanks to evilbunnyking for the great beta as always, and Kura for the great prompts!

Felix only wanted to be better at fighting when he enrolled in the academy. He didn't care about being a tactician, and many of the weapons didn't feel natural to him like a sword was. Lately though he began to be interested in Reason even though magic wasn't his strong suit. A few of his classmates like Lysithea and Annette had used magic against bandits and other enemies, and each time it was actually cool to see. He also found out that one of the master classes, Mortal Savant, required high level knowledge of Swords and Reason. 

Those reasons were more than enough for him to finally try out magic. But who to teach him? During lectures, he would glance at Annette as she listened intently to the professor. She would always answer the professor’s questions whenever she talked about Reason. The way she scrunched her face as she scribbled down her notes or read a book was cute. He made up his mind: he would have Annette help him with Reason.

Once today's lecture was finished, Felix waited until the professor and the rest of the students were out of the classroom. Annette hadn't gotten out of her seat, her face glued to her notebook. When he approached her table, Annette gazed up at him and beamed.

"Oh, hello Felix! Is there something that you need?"

"Yes." Already Felix felt his heart racing. He cleared his throat. "I was wondering if you can help me with Reason."

Annette gave him a blank stare. "Reason? I thought you're not interested in magic."

"You're right that I'm not huge on magic, but I've been looking into it as recently. That skill might become useful in the future."

"Really? That's great!" The smile on Annette's face disappeared. "But wait, have you asked someone else to help you with Reason first? Like the professor or even Sylvain?"

"Well, the professor’s been my sparring partner so I don't want to bother her more than I already am. As for Sylvain, I'm sure he's too busy chasing women to be of any use."

Annette closed her notebook and gave him a suspicious brow. "So let me get this straight. You want me to teach you Reason. You're not pulling a prank on me, are you?"

Felix narrowed his eyes at her. He wondered if she was still embarrassed with him hearing her sing that one time. Still, it was silly of her to think that.

"What? Of course not. You're one of the smartest students in the class, and I believed that you would be a good teacher."

"Me, a good teacher?" Annette's face fell. After regarding him a moment, a grin stretched across her face. "Alright then, I'll help you with magic! You can come by to my room later tonight."

"Okay, good. I'll see you later tonight, then." Felix gave a nod, waved to her goodbye, and left the classroom. He smiled to himself, actually looking forward to studying with Annette. 

xxx

Later that evening, Felix met up with Annette. Her room was messier than he expected: her books were stacked on her desk like a tower and looked as if it was about to fall, her papers were scattered all over, and her clothes were left on the floor and bed. Annette apologized for how unorganized she was, but Felix didn't mind and offered to help clean up much to her relief. After they put Annette's clothes in the basket and reorganized the books, they went ahead with their study session.

The next half hour or so Annette was reading aloud several magic formulas from their textbooks, only for Felix to not understand a word she was saying. He rested his elbow on her desk with his chin on his palm, having his eyes away from his textbook for a while now.

"Now, this formula is for the spell Blizzard. Some of the formula's components are similar to wind magic, but then you have this component to turn it into... are you even paying attention, Felix?"

"Hm?" Felix flinched when he heard his name. He gazed at Annette, who was staring at him. "Oh, sorry no I wasn't."

Annette furrowed her brow at him. "I thought you wanted me to teach you Reason magic!"

"I do, really." Felix sighed and leaned back against his chair with his arms behind his head. "Formulas and tactics just go over my head."

"You have to understand a spell's formula in order to use it. Back in the school of sorcery, one of my professors mentioned that anyone with a Crest has magic potential."

"Magic potential?" That caught Felix's interest. He sat back straight up. "How so?"

"Those with Crests have at least one element they're in tuned with but haven't figured out yet. For instance, I can do pure wind magic. Mercie knows fire magic, but she told me some families like members of the Nuvelle house knew several." A grin stretched across Annette's lips. "We should find out what your element is!"

"And how do we do that?"

"Back in the sorcery school, we did a test of sorts. We had to put our hands on a magic formula and it'll flash a color. That will show us at least one element we can use."

"More formulas?" Felix groaned and threw his head back, staring at the ceiling. "I'm tired of them already."

"Don't worry, I'll do all the work. I should still have my old sorcery book here somewhere."

Annette hopped out of her seat and went to a stack of books next to her bed. Felix waited for a few minutes until she came back with a thick, dark-green book. 

"Okay, it should be here somewhere..." She sat back down, flipping through several pages. "Ah, here it is!"

Annette set aside the book and grabbed a piece of paper. She drew a formula that was complex for Felix to understand, but according to her this should let him know what type of magic he can learn. 

"So this is the formula you were talking about?" 

Nodding, Annette said, "Ah huh! Go ahead, try it!"

Felix gave the formula one last stare. A part of him thought this was a little silly, but then again he wasn't magically inclined like Annette was. _Well, time to get this over with_ , he mused. He closed his eyes, inhaled, and touched it. 

A few seconds passed until he felt his hand engulfed in a warm aura. He opened his eyes to see a flash of blue and yellow light fused together. As soon as the light disappeared, he looked to see Annette beamed at him.

"That's the color for thunder magic!" she cheered and clapped her hands. "We should focus on that!"

Felix's chest fluttered as he was taken aback by Annette's excitement there. It was adorable, but he would rather drop dead than admit that to her. Instead he smiled back at her.

"Let's get to work, then."

xxx

The past two days he and Annette worked on his Reason. Annette had him study the formula for Thunder, which took him a few hours and Annette's repeated explanations for him to understand. He broke down the several components that made up the formula inside his head, and it actually wasn’t as hard as he thought it was.

Once he had the formula down, they went to the training grounds to practice Reason magic. Annette would demonstrate by using Cutting Gale at the dummies with ease. When it was Felix's turn, he concentrated on remembering the formula and stretched out his arms—

—only for nothing to happen.

He tried again. Concentrate on the formula, then attempt the spell. He waited, but once more nothing happened. Felix tried several more times, but was unsuccessful. With a soft smile, Annette suggested that they stop for the day and try again next time. 

After their lesson, Felix went to the dining hall with Ingrid and Sylvain. He and Ingrid had the beast meat teppanyaki while Sylvain had the fish and bean soup. The meat tonight was extra juicy and thick, just the way he liked it.

"So are you studying Reason with Annette now?" Ingrid asked after she ate a piece of the wild game meat.

Upon hearing that, Felix almost choked on his food. He punched his chest and drank a cup of water to wash the meat down on his throat.

"How did you guys find out?" 

"Ingrid and I saw you with her in the training grounds earlier," Sylvain said after he sipped his soup. He smirked. "Is it because you're into her?"

"It's not like that!" Felix glared at Sylvain, but then he frowned. "It's not off to a great start. I tried the Thunder spell several times, but it didn't work."

"Maybe you need more time and space to prepare mentally," Ingrid said. "Don't rush it, you know?"

"I agree with Ingrid. It's just like going on your first date with a...ow!" Before Sylvain could finish, Ingrid jabbed her elbow at his shoulder.

"Anyways, I'm surprised that you're taking an interest in magic. You only cared about having sword fights with the professor."

"I only had a keen interest in it recently. Annette is great at that, and so I wanted her to teach me."

"I think you made the right choice in having her as your study buddy," Sylvain said. A wicked grin tugged at his lips. "If you eventually decide to ask her out, I can give some pointers."

Felix narrowed his eyes at him. "That won't be necessary." 

"I agree that Annette would be a great teacher," Ingrid said with a genuine smile. "I wish you luck on that."

"Thank you." Felix gave an appreciative nod, and stole another bite of his food. 

The rest of the dinner the three discussed various topics like a letter from Sylvain's father informing him what was going on in Gautier territory, the house axe tournament that happened a few days ago in which Dedue had won, and the upcoming Battle of the Eagle and Lion. After they finished their meal, Felix and his friends went their separate ways.

He was on his way back to the training grounds hoping to get some sword training in for the night. The sun began to set and many students were heading back to their rooms. More guards began to appear for the nightwatch. 

Halfway there, Felix stopped when he heard someone sobbing nearby. He usually wasn't one to check up on someone under distress, but for some reason he was compelled to at this moment. 

Felix hid behind a tree, and when he got close he craned his neck to see it was Annette who was sobbing. She sat on the bench, holding a wooden doll. 

Hearing Annette's sob made Felix's heart sink. Why was she crying? That doll seemed to hold some sentimental value to her. He should probably talk to her, but wasn't sure how to help. He might make things worse. 

Felix turned and headed towards the training grounds, feeling helpless.

xxx

The next day, Felix and Annette went back to the training grounds. As before, Annette used Cutting Gale at the dummies several times flawlessly, hitting them right on the mark. When it was Felix's turn, he attempted Thunder but nothing happened.

This time Felix wasn't able to concentrate on the formula. The image of Annette crying as she held on that wooden doll was still fresh in his mind. Right now she seemed her usual sunny self, as if pretending everything was fine. After he made another failed attempt, Annette's forehead was squeezed into a furrow and she pressed her lips.

"This isn't right," she said. "You should be able to use Thunder by now. Maybe you're not concentrating hard enough."

Felix flinched. She was right that he hadn't been concentrating but didn't want her to find out the reason for that. 

"I agree," someone else said. Both he and Annette turned around to see Lysithea behind them. Felix crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at her.

"If you're here to bribe me with cake, the answer is no."

With a stare, Lysithea said, "I'm not here for that. I've actually been observing you since yesterday. I'm surprised that you would even consider trying out Reason magic."

Felix snorted. "Not the first time someone told me that. I just think that it'll be useful someday."

"I see," Lysithea said, giving him a curious brow. "Either way, Annette is right that you're not concentrating hard enough. It's as if something else is on your mind."

Felix's stomach dropped. It was bad enough that Lysithea also saw him and Annette together practicing magic. Was his current mood that obvious?

"Oh Lysithea, how about you help with Felix?" Annette asked. "Perhaps a different perspective can help!"

"That is generous of you to ask. As much as I would love to help out, I'm extra busy today."

"Oh, that's too bad," Annette said, frowning. "I do wish you luck on whatever you're doing!"

"Thanks. Good luck to you and Felix also." Lysithea offered them an appreciative smile and headed out. 

"Maybe Lysithea is onto something,” Annette said as she fixed her gaze with Felix’s. "Is there something on your mind?"

A deep frown stretched across Felix's face. "I'm more worried about you. Is everything alright?"

She furrowed her brow, and the corner of her lips twitched. "Huh? What's that all about?" 

"I saw you crying yesterday while on my way to the training grounds. I didn't come to ask you what happened because I was afraid I might make things worse."

Annette gasped and lowered her head. "Oh, so you did see that."

There was an awkward silence between them. Felix then asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

“How do I know you won’t be evil and make fun of me?” she mumbled, still not looking at him in the eye.

“What? Are you still hung up on…” Felix stopped to sigh and pinch the bridge of his nose. He didn’t want to scare her off that way. “Nevermind. I promise I won’t make fun of you.”

After a brief moment, Annette gazed up at him. "Okay. You know how one of the knights, Gilbert, is my father right?"

"I do. I remember him avoiding you when our class had to go to that tower to deal with Miklan." He didn't know that Gilbert was Annette's father until after that incident when he asked her if the two knew each other. Annette admitted that they do, but to not worry about her. Thinking about that made his chest hurt.

"Yeah, and he's still avoiding me which hurts a lot," Annette said and sighed.

"How about that doll? Did he give it to you?"

"He used to carve wooden dolls for me when I was little. He gave one to me recently, but I can't bring myself to throw it away."

Gilbert had been an awful father to her, but Annette was determined to talk to him. Felix believed she should stop chasing him, but a part of him knew Annette wouldn't listen. He gave a small chuckle, which made Annette raise a brow at him.

"Hey! You promised you won’t make fun of me.”

"I'm not. I’m actually kind of jealous that you still cared for him." He shrugged. "I can't say I feel the same for my old man."

"Really? What happened?"

Felix stopped, realizing no one else in the Blue Lions House except for his friends knew what happened between him and his father. He wasn't sure if he should tell her everything, but it wouldn't hurt to give her some context.

"You heard about the Tragedy of Duscur, right?" he asked, and Annette nodded. "Something happened during that incident which made me drift away from my father."

Annette seemed to regard him for a moment. "I'm surprised that we both don't have great relationships with our fathers after the Tragedy of Duscur."

"Huh, so we have that in common," Felix said with a small smile. That actually pleased him for some reason. His cheeks flushed, and he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm available if you, um, ever want to talk more about how awful our fathers are or whatever."

Annette gave him a suspicious stare at first, but then smiled back. "I'll keep that in mind. We're practicing magic right now, though. Are you ready to give it another try?"

Felix had been so focused on their conversation that he forgot they were here to help with his magic. Annette seemed to feel better, so he should be able to concentrate now. 

"Yes, I'm ready."

Closing his eyes, Felix concentrated on picturing the formula in his head. Once he did, he stretched out his arms and focused at the dummy several feet from him. 

_Concentrate, concentrate._

Several seconds had passed, and this time a burning sensation coursed through his arms. A large electric spark appeared and shot straight at the dummy, leaving a scorching mark at its chest area. Felix's face fell: did he actually use Thunder?

Annette's face lit up upon seeing that. "Can you do that again?"

Still dazed by what just happened, it took a second for Felix to register Annette's request. "Huh? Sure, I can try again."

Once more, he closed his eyes and pictured the formula in his head. Like before, he felt a burning sensation on his arms and fired the electric current at the same dummy. Another scorching mark was left on its chest.

"You finally did it!" Annette cheered. She gave him a tight hug around his waist, her head tucking below his chin. He inhaled the scent of her hair, which smelled like baked cookies.

Felix's heart pounded hard on his chest and his legs grew weak. He was taken aback by Annette's embrace, and it actually felt nice with their bodies pressed together like that. A few students nearby saw that and giggled. Eventually Annette gasped in shock and let go.

"Oh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Don't worry, it's fine. It's all thanks to you that I'm able to use Thunder now."

"Really? Well, you're welcome!" Annette beamed, and then she said, "I'm actually hungry right now. Do you want to join me at the dining hall?"

After considering Annette's offer a brief moment, he smiled. "Sure, I'll join you. Let's go."

He and Annette left the training grounds side by side. Felix was glad that he had let Annette teach him magic as he got to know her a bit more. He looked forward to more magic practice with her.


End file.
